HellaFlushJR

Hey eveyrone, im running a tamiya tl-01 and I just picked up a pair of t drift tires (4406) & a pair of (4402) tires.. Now my question is, would it be better to put the slick looking t drift tire in the back and the groved pattern tires in the front? Or the soft grip tires in the back and the hard plastic drift tires in the front? I havent had time to run my car, since im still awaiting for a new battery charger. Any good advice will help! Thanks.. And does anyone know if the hpi t drift 4406 tires are like sushi tires? Or shall i say, abs piping material?

BlueShade Zero

Let me just go ahead and say, dont mix the two tires. I cant even imagine them working well together. The 4402 tires, AKA Super Drifts, are a rubber compound and meant for high RPM, or high grip drifting, while the T-drifts are meant for slower drifting. They display two completely different drift characteristics and having used both, i cant fathom that they would work remotely well together.

The end with the super drifts, (the rubber ones) will stick, and the T-drifts will be lofty and loose. If your supers are in the rear, you wont be able to steer, or kick the rear out because the super drifts dont break loose at the same RPM, and by the time they do, you've got so much slip on the T-drifts that they wont be able to turn you. The result will be that the rear will push past the front under power, and will whip straight again when you brake since the T-drift have less drag. The result is you wont be able to sustain any kind of drift...

on the other hand...

If you ran the super drifts up front, the rear would act super slippery, and would whip around all over. The Supers would grip, allowing you to turn pretty aggressivly, but then since your rear t-drifts are slippery they would just whip around well before your super drifts would break loose. Again, you wont be able to hold a drift properly...

It could definently be interesting to try out, but quite honestly you'll likely never get a smooth slide out of it. To do a proper drift you need equal traction distribution between all the wheels, so that way everything will slide with the same geometry, allowing your RC to hold its drift angle naturally.
With different compounds between the wheels, they will react differently to the RPM changes (which you use to control your drift) and thus will become unpredictable and very hard to control.
The reason is different wheels will handle differently across various surfaces, and will have a different traction curve at various RPM.

Hope that helps! (and didnt pose more questions then it solved)

HellaFlushJR

Thanks for the positive reply that was good information! I will try it out and see how it goes when I get my new charger and ill post my crappy results lol!! Thank you again!

BlueShade Zero

Please do, i'll be curious to hear how it goes =P

BTW i did edit the body of the post (as i usually do once i realize a better way to convey what i just wrote) but you had already replied (which usually doesnt happen so quickly lol). Same info, just a tad simpler.

Who knows though. Its a written rule(somewhere) that with enough effort+skill, you can do just about anything with RC cars. If (by some unfathomable chance) you end up liking the setup, i'd still suggest slapping on another pair of each wheel. The two tires, as i said, have very different geometries. I personally LOVE super drifts, but being so expensive hardly any one uses em. To top that off, they wear down VERY VERY quickly. when i was still in the heat of it (and i'm getting back there) i would have to replace them every week, maybe 2 if i was lazy. Theyre good until theyre gone though, but trust me it doesnt take long... Still, nothing like being able to hold a solid drift at 30+, while still being able to perform all the tight and techincal stuff the other guys do. You can do everything T-drifters do, but your alot faster (which also makes it much harder)

HellaFlushJR

Alright so I tried the setup and I must say, the super drift (4406) tires grabs amazing for speed and gives me a nice long drift without spinning me around 360. I put the slick t drift tires in the back and the super t drifts in the front and having my back diff lock, it was just like driving with sushi tires.. I would have to drive slow in order to get nice light drifts without spinning out, so what I did was put the super t drifts in the back and the slick t drifts in the front and that gave me a good 1:1 dirft ratio.. I mean, there was some under steer but when the front slick t drifts started to wear down I started catching grip the way I wanted it to. Overall, I think if you want speed and nice drifts, the super t drifts all around are better! The slick t drifts remind me of the sushi tires..

gokemidoro

I'm not sure why (unless you're super-bored) you would want to do all this with different compound drift tires, but if you want drift tires with the best slip/grip ratios, look up Raikou Drift Tires.
Their DXPE's and D68's are excellent. The Slicks, Rinias and Dyuaros are same as Sushis, so I don't think you would be satisfied with those, but between the DXPE's and D68's, they will accomodate just about any surface you will run on.
The DXPE's are great all-around tires, and the D68's are a bit harder, and are a bit limited, but Ican tell you this.....You WON'T be wearing them out anytime soon. They last and last! And Last. Did I say they last?! They are the longest wearing drift tires I've ever had.
The best part is, compare them to a full set of HPIA-Drifts, ANDa full set of HPIT-Drifts. For the price of a full set of A-Drifts, you can have TWOFULLSETSof Raikou DXPE's, and still have some bucks left, and by the time you wear out (and I'll tell you from personal experience, I STILLhaven't worn out my first set of DXPE's and they're almost two years old!) the DXPE's, you will have wasted a gangload of cash on HPIA-drifts. A-Drifts are not cheap! The D68's are even longer-lasting!

Give them a try. Then you'll find out how much of a waste of time all this other was (unless of course, you were super-bored!).

HellaFlushJR

I will deff try those out! Now im about to buy the mantay ray diff for my tl-01 and need to know how to install that? Any ideas?

gokemidoro

Better make sure they're transferrable. Just because they look the same, doesn't make them the same. Best to be sure. If the part numbers are the same, it should be a drop-in fit. If you're getting it new, look up Tamiya online, and they have instructions on assembly and installation for certain models, so you're covered. Going by their instruction is the best. If the instructions for either model isn't there (but it should be - the Manta ray is now called the DF01), the MO5 diff instruction will help, as MO5 diffs are the same type.

Good luck!

kstmRYD

Here are some guys sliding with Raikou's D68 tires

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQrPadIADZI[/youtube]

BlueShade Zero

The super drifts are a completely different tire from the Raikous... I have a set, havnt used them much, but i can tell you right off the bat its completely different and its still a pure drift tire. A Drifts are for high rpm, or high grip drifting. You can get some serious speed on them while still being able to go sideways with out loosing control.

Those guys are serious pro's though. Cool music too (though i hate the Videogamy sounding bit). Iliked the bit at the end where the dud spins out, and just keeps goin like no big deal. Kinda like how you have to be with the rally (Except all the time, every time)

I'm actually having an issue with my Raikou DxPE's where they'll go over the first half of the rim, but will get caught on the second to the point i cant get the wheel over it... I got one set on an old set of rims by basically forcing it on, and one of the tires popped off the edge again and wont go back on. Kinda irritating tbh, something i've never had to deal with with my hpi super drifts being made of rubber.

Still, the two wheels perform the same function, but the super drifts are alot faster. Better for Gymkhana, since they'll let you slid, grip, and pickup speed all while maintaining excellent drift control. Needless to say, because they run faster, theyre also less precise, thats where the DxPE's work well. Ihave hardly used them, and threw them on a non drift chassis, but from what i can tell they work great. Its not like riding on ice as is with most drift tires, you can feel the control still there, but they slide long and smooth. Oh, and theyre damn near invincible. Just wish they had a bigger profile, the super skinny wheels, imo, look gimpy. I actually regret picking up the ABSwheels, no clue why i did. Iknew i wouldnt like them. Theyre like drifting in slo mo, and extra slippery. I'll end up giving them away if i dont just toss them.

gokemidoro

Did you go to the Raikou site and see the tire mount pics?the first set are mine. I use a piece of lexan to "spoon" them on the last bit of rim edge. Have to be fast - the tire cools rather quickly, and makes it harder if you don't do it fast enough.

BlueShade Zero

Do now. Didnt notice that before, but i had thought of it. However, i only have a microwave, but nothing to boil water in. Think i could just buy a cup, like a coffee mug, and just boil the tire in the microwave while freezin my wheel?

gokemidoro

Yah, you could freeze the wheel, but I find it doesn't really help all that much, and seems like an extra step, extra effort with little result. Go ahead and try it, though, it may help you.

kstmRYD

"those guys are serious pros though" - now they are, after serious practice time! Practice with a purpose, mark out spots where you want to be on the track and practice, practice, practice and practice some more and before you know it you're sliding like a pro! At one time I couldn't slide my car if I shot it out a cannon, but got together with guys who were serious about control, taught me how to hold an intended line and now they let me stay on the track for a few minutes! lol

I hear you on the tires, mounting some tires require some ingenuity and patience. I use the clamp method and gokemidoro's trick, I also drop a bit of hot glue in the wheel and they stay on with no problems. Raikou is working on a higher profile DXPE tire as well as other compounds. A higher profile DXPE will probably last about 10 years! lol can't wear them down with a grinder!

The tires were due out this month but the disaster in Japan has put the brakes on the tooling and material. They are working with another source, but keeping pricing down is the main concern, who wants to spend a lot on tires, save that cash for bodies, bling and electronics!

PS - don't toss out the ABS, they work on carpet, if you ever get to drift on it or for small technical layouts where you want to do tight sync tandems.

BlueShade Zero

I've yet to ACTUALLY test the ABS ones, but i hear its like driving on glass. If you suggest so i'll keep them around and try them out. I've thought about "converting" them to the grooved style Raikou does by slapping them on my car, having some one rev up and hold the car, and using an edge of some sort to grind the center away...

gokemidoro

Nah, it'll just make them wear out all the faster.....I still have a few sets of Dyuaros and slicks for those hot days when they will work well, but I don't expect much more than two or three battery packs out of them.

kstmRYD

I've seen some kid cut grooves into the ABS tire with a hacksaw blade, kid should become a tattoo artist, looked really good. He also filled two grooves he cut with hot glue and it gave the tire some bite.

To my surprise ABS has a decent following especially with low powered motors, went to a comp where a team used it exclusively. It was a tight and very technical track, man those guys could slide, it was like 4 cars were being driven on the same remote, those guys were in sync. These guys bling their cars out with CF, alloy parts and LED's a super paint jobs and they don't plan on rubbing fenders!